Practice Paper – Set 4

To: Mr Peterson, Chief Executive Officer
From: Charles Wong, Public Relations Officer of KCR
Date: 28 May, 2008
Subject: Design of Train Compartments

Introduction
I am writing in response to your request for the report on the design of train compartments. I have also included my suggestions for improvements.

Findings
A questionnaire survey was conducted in April, 2008 to collect passengers' opinions on the design of all the train compartments. 2000 questionnaire were sent out to the respondents, of which 1800 were returned. Site visits were also made to 2 British-made compartments to collect further data about the design. The major findings are listed below.

Respondents
About three quarters (76%) of the respondents took KCR daily. A small number (14%) of the respondents took KCR twice a week and the remaining 10% of the respondents took KCR once a week.

Results
About four fifths of the respondents said that KCR was fast and stable. About three quarters of them reported that the KCR fare was reasonable.

As for the areas to be improved, three quarters of the respondents said that the train compartments were too bright. More than half (60%) said that the ventilation was poor. It was hot and stuffy in summer. Two fifths of the respondents said that the ventilation was poor. It was hot and stuffy in summer. Two fifths of them reported that the seats were uncomfortable. A quarter of the respondents said that the compartments were noisy when traveling at high speed.

Three problems were found during the site visits. The floor was slippery. The TV system was too noisy. The route map was user-unfriendly.

Conclusion
To conclude, a majority of respondents are satisfied with the design of KCR compartments. However, some improvements can still be made.

Recommendation
I would like to make the following recommendations for your consideration.

• As it is too bright in the train compartments, we must reduce the brightness of the lights.
  
• We should also improve the ventilation and adjust the temperature in summer.
  
• We should redesign the seats and make them more comfortable.
• We should reduce the volume of the TV system.
• We should make the route maps more user-friendly.
  

I would be grateful if the above recommendations could be considered.

Regards

Charles
Charles Wong
Public Relations Officer of KCR